Ammunition canister

ABSTRACT

An ammunition canister, used as a part of a gun loader system, is in the form of a cylindrical container for a round of ammunition and is provided with flexible rubber pads convoluted by spring force for gripping the round. A releasing force is used to release the spring force to permit delivery of a round into or from the container.

United States Patent Hayes I [54] AMMUNITION CANISTER [72] Inventor: John R. Hayes, Indianapolis, lnd.

[73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 110,540

[52] US. Cl. ..89/45 [51] Int. Cl. ..F4lf 9/02 [58] Field of Search ..206/3; 224/5 ML, 13, l5, 16, 224/17, 21; 89/33 R, 33 BB, 33 BL, 33 L, 33

LA, 35 R, 36 H, 36 L, 45, 46, 47

[ Sept. 5, 1972 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,781,696 2/1957 Shonts et al. ..89/45 Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Bentley Attorney-Jean L. Carpenter and Arthur'N. Krein 57 ABSTRACT An ammunition canister, used as a part of a gun loader system, is in the form of a cylindrical container for a round of ammunition and is provided with flexible rubber pads convoluted by spring force for gripping the round. A releasing force is used to release the spring force to permit delivery of a round into or from the container.

,7Claims,5Drawing Figures AMMUNITION (ZANISTER The invention herein described was made in the course of work under a contract or subcontract thereunder with the Department of Defense.

This invention relates to an ammunition holder and, in particular, to an ammunition canister construction wherein a round of ammunition is physically held in the canister by releasable resilient means.

In order to automatically load different types of ammunition, including missiles, into a gun, it is advantageous to store the individual rounds of ammunition in canisters which can be mounted on an endless conveyer or magazine loader system for transport to the breech of the gun. It is also desirable that the canisters be of uniform sizebut at the same time be suitable for accommodating any of the types of ammunition or missiles capable of being fired from the gun so that these rounds can be stored in the canisters of the magazine loader system in any desired order.

It is also desirous that the rounds of ammunition be retained in the ammunition canisters without damage when subjected to vehicular and main weapon shock and vibratory loads. This retention should, however, be such as to permit ready loading and unloading of an ammunition round into and from the ammunition canister.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to improve an ammunition canister whereby a round of ammunition can be firmly retained therein without damage while still permitting its easy storage into or removal from the canister.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ammunition canister suitable for accommodating various types of ammunition and adapted to resiliently and firmly retain such a round of ammunition therein.

These and other objects of the invention are attained by means of an ammunition canister in the form of a cylindrical container having axially spaced apertures therein into which resilient gripper pads are convoluted by means of springs whereby a round of ammunition is retained by a steady clamping force applied against the side of the round of ammunition within the canister.

For a better understanding'of the invention, as well as other objects and further features thereof, reference is had to the following detailed description of the invention to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an ammunition canister constructed in accordance with the invention with parts broken away to show the structural details of one of the resilient grippers used to retain a round of ammunition in the canister;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the canister of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2 to show the details of a gripper in its convoluted form;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a gripper per se in its unconvoluted position; and,

FIG. 5 is an axiomatic view of a portion of the ammunition canister of FIG. 1.

Referring now, in particular, to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the ammunition canister, generally designated 10, for a round of ammunition 12 includes a basic elongated, cylindrical, open-ended, rigid shell or container 14 of a suitable material such as metal plate and consisting, in the embodiment disclosed, of an upper shell portion 16 and a lower shell portion 18, for example, of sheet metal and similar in shape to each other, joined together along their overlapping sides, as by spot welding, to form the thin walled shell. Attached to this shell or container structure are the ammunition grippers 20 and 20a on the upper shell portion 16. Ammunition cushions 22 and missile indexing devices 24 are secured to the lower shell portion 18, drive support mounts 26 and 26a are secured to opposite ends of the shell portion 18 and 16, respectively, and guide rollers 28 and 280 are secured to the aft end or right-hand end, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, of the shell. The missile indexing devices 24, drive support mounts 26 and 26a and the guide rollers 28 and 28a, and elements with which they cooperate (not shown) are not described in detail since they form no part of the subject invention.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a round of ammunition 12 is retained in the shell by ammunition grippers 20 and 20a preferably in the form of composite elastomeric, metallic grippers to be described in detail hereinafter. These grippers are positioned over spaced apart, axially aligned, rectangular-shaped openings 32 in the upper shell portion 16. The forward end, left-hand end as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, of each gripper is attached to the upper shell portion 16 adjacent to its associated opening 32 and, at its opposite or aft end, is secured to an arcuate actuator 34, as by rivets 36. Each actuator 34 is provided at opposite ends thereof with enlarged portion 34a to receive rods 38 and 38a whereby each actuator can be secured to these rods slidably positioned on opposite sides of the grippers.

The rods 38 and 38a slide fore and aft on either side of the grippers through guides 40 and 42 suitably secured as by rivets on the outside of the upper shell portion 16.

When the rods 38 and 38a are in their aftmost position, the grippers 20 and 20a are essentially flush with the inner surface of the upper shell portion 16. As the rods are moved forward to the position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the grippers 20 and 20a are caused to convolute radially inward into the shell 14 toward the position shown until they contact a round of ammunition. The rods 38 and 38a are normally biased forward, to the left as seen in these figures, to convolute the grippers by means of helical coil spring 44 which are mounted precompressed, over the rods 38 and 38a with each spring forward of a gripper abutting at one end against a guide 40 and at its other end against a collar 46 fixed to the rod with which the spring is associated and, each gripper spring 44 aft of a gripper abutting at one end against a guide 42 and at its other end against the actuator with which it is associated. The springs 44 drive the grippers against the round of ammunition, thus providing a steady clamping force on the round of ammunition.

Due to the variation of profile in different types of ammunition, and due to the fact that all types of ammunition tend to assume a slight nose-down attitude when placed on their side, the grippers should convolute to different depths, as required by the position of the round, to contact the round of ammunition at each of the respective gripping stations. In order that the gripper may convolute to different depths, the rods 38 and 38a are preferably formed in sections and separated between grippers, three such rod sections being illustrated in FIG. 1 on each side of the grippers. Thus, for example, since the front end of a round of ammunition would assume the lowermost position, the front sections of rods 38 and 38a would be free of the remaining rod sections to permit the left-hand gripper a, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, to convolute independently of the remaining grippers.

Release of the grippers at the stations, not shown, where it is desirous to insert the round or remove a round from the canister can be accomplished by moving the rods 38 and 38a aft, to the right as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, by a suitable reciprocable actuator, such as by a hydraulic reciprocating motor, not shown, engaging the actuator knob 48 on the fore or left-hand end of rod 38a, for example.

The grippers 20 and 20a are preferably formed as composite elastomeric, metallic grippers having metal plates 50 and 52 embedded in a suitable elastomeric matrix, such as a compound containing predominantly polybutadiene rubber. In addition, the upper surfaces of the grippers are preferably provided with longitudinal and transverse slots 54 and 56, respectively, to assist in causing the grippers to convolute in a predetermined manner. The metal inserts also cause the grippers to convolute in a predetermined manner and, in addition, provide directional strength, resulting in more efficient utilization of the applied actuating spring forces. The fore gripper 20a preferably differs from the center and aft grippers 20, which are alike, in that the fore gripper 20a is formed without the front row of metal plates 50 which are used in the grippers 20. In addition, preferably this gripper is reinforced with layers of cloth, not shown, embedded in the elastomeric matrix just above the ammunition innerfacing surface thereof.

The clamping force that the grippers exert on the ammunition is dependent upon its convoluted shape and actuating spring elongation. The depth to which a griipper must convolute to contact the ammunition determines the angle of incident of the front and rear inserts, and affects their mechanical advantage. The higher the angle of incident, the greater the clamping force. However, it should be noted that as the grippers convolute too deep into the canister, the actuating forces of the springs diminish with spring elongation. Accordingly, the inside diameter of the shell 14 should be sufficiently large to readily accommodate a round of ammunition slidably receivable therein, but not so large as to require excessive convolution of the grippers.

-In addition, as shown, each of the grippers is protected by a cover plate 60 suitably secured at opposite ends to the upper shell portion 16, as by rivets, to overlie its associated opening 32 in this shell portion and the gripper with which it is associated. As previously described, each gripper, as illustrated in FIG. 3, is riveted at its forward or left-hand end as seen in this figure to the upper shell portion 16 by rivets 58 which extend from the upper shell portion 16 through the gripper and into the cover plate 60.

Preferably, a number of ammunition cushions 22, two as shown in the embodiment disclosed, made of a suitable elastomeric material, are mounted in the lower shell portion 18 diametrically opposite the grippers 20 and 200 as an aid to ammunition retention through the utilization of the elastomers high coefficient of friction and good vibration damping characteristics. Each cushion 22 is bonded to a backing plate 62 which is fixed to the lower shell portion with the cushion protruding through a suitable aperture 64 provided in the lower shell portion for this purpose. Preferably, these cushions are positioned so that the shoulder, not shown, of each type of ammunition, for which the canister is designed to accommodate, will rest on one of the cushions. Thus, a cushion need not be positioned directly below one of the grippers.

What is claimed is:

1. An ammunition canister for a round of ammunition, the canister including an elongated, cylindrical, open-ended shell, axially spaced apart in line apertures in said shell, flexible gripper pads, each of said gripper pads being secured at one end to the outside of said shell in position to overlie one of said apertures, an actuator for each of said gripper pads, rod means axially, slideably positioned on said shell on opposite sides of said apertures, each of said actuators being fixed at opposite ends to said rod means, each of said gripper pads having its opposite end secured to one of said actuators whereby said gripper pads can be convoluted upon movement of said actuators in one direction, and spring means operatively connected to said actuators to normally move said actuators in said one direction to convolute said gripper pads to effect their movement inward into said shell into position to grip a round of ammunition and retain it within the canister.

2. An ammunition canister according to claim 1 wherein each of said gripper pads is of an elastomeric material with metal plates embedded therein in spaced apart rows and wherein each of said gripper pads has one surface thereof notched to form fold lines between said rows of said metal plates.

3. An ammunition canister according to claim 1 further including spaced apart elastometer cushions positioned within said shell diametrically opposite said gripper pads.

4. An ammunition canister for a round of ammunition, said canister including an elongated thin-walled shell having a cylindrical opening therethrough to slideably receive a round of ammunition therein, axially spaced apart in line apertures in the wall of said shell, axially extending rod means slideably positioned on the exterior of said shell on opposite sides of said apertures, actuators secured to said rod means for movement therewith, each of said actuators being positioned for movement over one of said apertures, flexible gripper means, each of said gripper means being secured at one end to said shell adjacent one of said apertures and at its opposite end to said actuator as sociated with said aperture, and spring means operatively connected to said rod means and to said shell for normally biasing said rod means in a direction to move said actuators toward the end of its said flexible gripper means secured to said shell to convolute said flexible gripper means inward into said shell for engagement with a round of ammunition therein.

5. An ammunition canister according to claim 4 wherein each of said flexible gripper means is of an elastomeric material having metal plates embedded therein in spaced apart rows and wherein one surface means is normally, individually forced into engagement with a round of ammunition in said shell.

7. An ammunition canister according to claim 4 further including spaced apart elastometer cushions positioned within said shell diametrically opposite said flexible gripper means. 

1. An ammunition canister for a round of ammunition, the canister including an elongated, cylindrical, open-ended shell, axially spaced apart in line apertures in said shell, flexible gripper pads, each of said gripper pads being secured at one end to the outside of said shell in position to overlie one of said apertures, an actuator for each of said gripper pads, rod means axially, slideably positioned on said shell on opposite sides of said apertures, each of said actuAtors being fixed at opposite ends to said rod means, each of said gripper pads having its opposite end secured to one of said actuators whereby said gripper pads can be convoluted upon movement of said actuators in one direction, and spring means operatively connected to said actuators to normally move said actuators in said one direction to convolute said gripper pads to effect their movement inward into said shell into position to grip a round of ammunition and retain it within the canister.
 2. An ammunition canister according to claim 1 wherein each of said gripper pads is of an elastomeric material with metal plates embedded therein in spaced apart rows and wherein each of said gripper pads has one surface thereof notched to form fold lines between said rows of said metal plates.
 3. An ammunition canister according to claim 1 further including spaced apart elastometer cushions positioned within said shell diametrically opposite said gripper pads.
 4. An ammunition canister for a round of ammunition, said canister including an elongated thin-walled shell having a cylindrical opening therethrough to slideably receive a round of ammunition therein, axially spaced apart in line apertures in the wall of said shell, axially extending rod means slideably positioned on the exterior of said shell on opposite sides of said apertures, actuators secured to said rod means for movement therewith, each of said actuators being positioned for movement over one of said apertures, flexible gripper means, each of said gripper means being secured at one end to said shell adjacent one of said apertures and at its opposite end to said actuator associated with said aperture, and spring means operatively connected to said rod means and to said shell for normally biasing said rod means in a direction to move said actuators toward the end of its said flexible gripper means secured to said shell to convolute said flexible gripper means inward into said shell for engagement with a round of ammunition therein.
 5. An ammunition canister according to claim 4 wherein each of said flexible gripper means is of an elastomeric material having metal plates embedded therein in spaced apart rows and wherein one surface of said flexible gripper means has notches therein to form fold lines between said rows of said metal plates.
 6. An ammunition canister according to claim 4 wherein said rod means includes individual rod sections connected to opposite sides of each of said actuators and wherein said spring means includes at least one set of precompressed springs associated with each of said rod sections whereby each of said flexible gripper means is normally, individually forced into engagement with a round of ammunition in said shell.
 7. An ammunition canister according to claim 4 further including spaced apart elastometer cushions positioned within said shell diametrically opposite said flexible gripper means. 